20. According to the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour, and Social Welfare, 14,618 Iranian women married to foreign national men registered during a national campaign conducted by this ministry in 2017. The data gathered by the ministry showed that 49,096 children born to these marriages were undocumented. According to this survey 60% of these women married Afghan men and 12% married Iraqis. 29% of these children are out of school due to lack of documentation. 15 It is noteworthy that this survey only covered those Iranian mothers that had Iranian ID. The total number of children born to Iranian mothers and foreign national fathers is not clear, but various parliament members have stated that the number is around 1 million.16 Risk of Statelessness of children of Iranian women and Afghan men 21. In August 2018, the Directorate General of the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants' Affairs (BAFIA) stated that currently, about 3 million Afghans reside in the country. 17 Other sources state that about 1.5 to two million undocumented Afghans live in the country.18 The Afghan refugee situation is one of the largest and most protracted in the world, with many having been in the country for as long as 40 years (since 1979). This means that many young refugees are third generation, born and raised in Iran.19 Studies show that 70% of Afghans residing in Iran are second-generation migrants.20 22. Although under the 2000 Afghan nationality law, children born of a woman of any or no nationality and an Afghan man in Iran, automatically gain Afghan citizenship, many of these children are unable to acquire Afghan nationality, if they cannot prove their tribal and familial ties.21 23. The tazkera is the primary Afghan personal identification document. Afghans living abroad must complete a complex and time-consuming procedure to obtain a tazkera. When a person’s identity cannot be verified in a standard manner, they can receive a tazkera only after two Afghan citizens possessing tazkera as well as the local police department attest 15 The impediments of ratifying the bill on granting citizenship to children born to Iranian mothers and foreign fathers, Nov 2018, ISNA: https://www.isna.ir/news/97081407048. 16 1 million and 300 stateless persosns exists in Iran, 2018, ICNA: http://www.icana.ir/Fa/News/415896. 17 Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), August 2018, See: https://www.isna.ir/news/97052613495 (In a context of mixed migration the lines between refugees and migrants are blurry, particularly when there is no clear functional Refugee Status Determination procedure in place.). 18 Iran Needs Help to Support Afghan Refugees, 2018, UNHCR: https://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2018/9/5b8e9f414/iran-needs-help-support-afghan-refugees-unhcr-chief.html. 19 Iran Needs Help to Support Afghan Refugees, 2018, UNHCR: https://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2018/9/5b8e9f414/iran-needs-help-support-afghan-refugees-unhcr-chief.html. 20 The impediments of ratifying the bill on granting citizenship to children born to Iranian mothers and foreign fathers, Nov 2018, ISNA: https://www.isna.ir/news/97081407048. 21 Article 11 of the 2000 Nationality Law states, that a child is considered an Afghan citizen regardless of where the child is born or the statelessness of one of the child’s parents, as long as one parent is an Afghan. Law on Citizenship of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, https://www.refworld.org/docid/404c988d4.html [Accessed March 09, 2019]. 6